


The Memorial

by DrVauclair



Category: Deus Ex (Video Games), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: Bob has severe mental health issues and is very unstable, F/M, Hot Chocolate, fluff turning into angst turning into somewhat fluff?, rip tablet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 02:37:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11659875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrVauclair/pseuds/DrVauclair
Summary: As Gillian returns home from a run with their dog, she tries to have a tender moment with Bob. Unfortunately, certain news destroy this.





	The Memorial

**Author's Note:**

> This little drabble was inspired by the "My character is having a flashback and they feel they can’t breathe. Send your character’s response to seeing mine clutch their throat and gasping for air." - prompt I have seen on Tumblr. This is not very canon compliant, as it all takes place in my own DX verse in which Robert has a very troubled relationship with his family and there was not much opportunity to bring any canon things into this.
> 
> Also: I don't ususally write angst *shrugs*

Without any noise the door to her personal sanctuary fell back to into the lock. _Click_ , and the outside has been shut out just as it should be. The joyful and excited trotting of Pan around her made Gillian smile - the never ending stamina of this creature never failed to amaze the young woman. Her own breath still out of rythm and heavy, she just shook her head how the dog seemed to still have enough energy to go for another run. _Malinois,_ she thought to herself, _I have been warned so many times_. And so it was a daily struggle to get the beast out of her harness, which falsely proclaimed "GUARD DOG". Pan might be obedient, but she would never hurt a soul. Grunting, Gillian tried to make her companion stand still as she kneeled down to have better access to the clips.

  
"Come on, Pan, just a moment. You can run in the garden in a second." The woman bit her lower lip in concentration, her frusatration grew, but the dog preferred to wiggle and lick her owners face with a happy, muffled barf. Of course Gillian couldn't resist to smile, not only because of the little caressing she got from her loyal companion, but also because she finally managed to release the hyperactive dog from her gear. A quick stroke on the head, a firm pat on the side, and the black Malinios ran into the open loft, across the kitchen to the spacious living room right into the Japanese garden through the open glass door. The lady's eyes, each tinted in a different colour, followed the beast with a content smile. She was certain the hunt for rogue leaves will commence soon enough. Then she put the black, heavy harness on a dedicated hook, the leash right on top of it - a little sticker with a minimalistic dog symbol labeled it perfectly. And charcoal running jacket found its place right next to it. The second skin protecting her from the fresh breath of autumn.

  
After she took of her comfortable running shoes, Gillian stepped into the large, open kitchen and found her husband sitting at the wooden kitchen isle. A pleased feeling covered her, seeing him in the navy blue sweater she got for him just a day ago. She knew it would suit him the moment she had seen it. A red, steamy mug was standing before him, his right hand held it as he seemed to read some things on their tablet - scrolling without paying much attention and taking a little sip. She spotted another mug right next to him, and the aroma of fresh hot chocolate pleased her cold nose. The ginger lifted his head and his affectionate smile revealed his white teeth as he saw his loved one finally back home. Without saying anything, he just slowly poked the other mug and his smile got a tiny bit wider. The white haired woman nodded without any hesitation, nonverbally accepting, and walked up to him with elegant steps. A warm sensation embraced her strained feet - Robert must have turned on the in-floor heating. As she walked by him, she squeezed his left shoulder in a gentle way and kissed his forehead right next to his augmentation marks - he returned a soft hum.

  
"And? Anything interesting in the world today?" she inquired and took a seat right next to him. She placed the mug into her cold hands with caution, reviving them with the heat, and noticed the little pieces of marshmallow swimming in the brown liquid.

  
"Ah, the usual. A crisis there, a conflict somewhere else. Nothing we don't already know. Morgan is getting less creative these days. How was your run, Dearest?" His voice was calm, relaxing, and he leaned in to kiss her rose cheeks.

  
"Pretty cold, as you might have noticed." she giggled delicately and took a first, careful sip. This was exactly what she needed to calm down again - to catch her breath. Then a loud sigh came out of her, before Gillian wrapped her arms around his chest covered in this warm, soft sweater and placed her head on his shoulder. Page tilted his head to position his on hers and gingerly started to stroke her back - he could feel how tense her muscles were through the fabric. She closed her eyes as she rubbed her cheek against him, still panting- her heart hammered against her chest. Whether because of the activity she just returned from or from being so close to the man she loved most - she couldn't tell, and she did not care. His breath was calm, a warm summer breeze compared to her restless squall. And slowly, they merged together, approached each other to a small dance before becoming one. He was her safe haven, protecting her small little world. Another sigh escaped her dry lips.

  
Out of nowhere she felt a shift in the mood, an earthquake rapidly getting stronger and jolting her peaceful world, as her partner's body started to shake without control. She opened her eyes, puzzled, and frowned - she saw how his left hand cramped around the mug, spilling some of the cocoa on the ebony beneath it, and the knuckles turned more white than her own hair. The muscles in his forearms became disturbingly apparent and he lost all control over his motions. Gillian lifted her head away from his shoulder just to glance into his tensed face - stiff, starring at the tablet in front of him as its tone got darker by the second - a volcano right before its eruption and unleashing a devastating catastrophe. The nerve-wrecking sound of crunshing coming from his jaw, tooth grinding on tooth, was just the harbinger of the incoming disaster. Her eyes moved around, nervous,and looked into his solidified ones - and for a brief moment she was certain that the passive glowing under his green ones turned into an inferno. Her chest got tighter and heavy emotion of worry took over her body. And his chest did not move at all.  
"Robert, what's wrong?" She asked, her voice soft yet slightly tremulous, trying to catch her husband's attention full of desperation. But Page did not react, remained in his alarming, stoical state as he was already part of a different world. A place in which her words were unable to reach him, he was already drowning in the deep ocean. As she reached out to grab the mug from his forceful grip, her eyes wandered over the tablet to see the news article he was reading. At first, she only saw a generic photograph of a even more generic corporate building, before she could finally read the title: " _Global Paragon to build memorial for deceased CEO James Page."_

  
Her eyes widened at those words - "Oh no," escaped under her breath as a barely audible whisper. Her head jerked back to Page who turned into one of Medusa's statues - not even a blink. Now she understood, now she knew for certain what caused this sudden change, what destroyed their tender moment. And suddenly, their world stood still.

  
The concerned woman wrested the mug away from him, a reflex, before it would end up on the opposite wall as it had happened countless times before. She banged the electronic device on the kitchen isle to hide the offending words from his sight. She did it with more force than anticipated, and startled by their loud noise when the glass hit the wood. She shoved the mugs far away from them and strongly held her partner's rigid hands. The usually soft hands felt rough like sandpaper, nearly trying to keep her away from him. Like thorns cutting into her flesh. But she would never leave him.

  
"Why is he always doing this to me?", he apathetically whispered, still staring into the abyss. Suddenly he made a quiet, whimpering sound like a beaten dog and the grip around her delicate fingers turned into a crushing clutch. It was painful, yet she refused to let go and let him release all of the tension inside of him - even if he would break them. With his head bowed, he squinted his eyes and continued to make sounds of sorrow and desperation. All of a sudden he stood up, let go of her hands and fiery gaze in his eyes made a second appearance.

"WHY IS HE DOING THIS TO ME?" Robert exploded directed at nothing, leaned forward and his hands formed to fists. A bull ready to charge at the red flag in front of him. Gillian remained on her stool and furrowed her brows in concern - her own breath heavy as his. " AND WHY IS MORGAN EVEN PUBLUSHING THIS? HE KNOWS EVERYTHING!" Affect based, he grabbed the deactivated tablet and smashed it with all of his force against the edge of the isle - and broke the crystalline device in the middle. Small parts of shards fell on the tiles like artifical snow.

  
"HE IS DEAD! WHAT HE SHOULD BE! WHY...why...why..." with every word his strong voice become more brittle, more fragile, and his mouth started to tremble. The fists once raised into the air came down like destroyed planes, and landed in his auburn hair - grabbing for them to find hold. His eyes lapsed back to their natural tone and his gasping returned, accompanied by painful sobbing. His lungs begged for fresh air, reached out with loud whistles and his eyeballs shaked nervously. "Why is he never leaving me alone...?!".

  
The words were nearly completely swallowed by the darkness he percieved around him, a demon embracing from behind, placing his claws right on his chest and pressing the precious life out of him - to feed on it. Robert's gasping turned into alarming sounds of chocking. Gillian quickly stood up to him, places his red face in her pale hands, and turned it to directly look into his wet eyes - they were still moving around, looking for a lifeline. A lighthouse in the dark, storming sea. It hurt her to see him like this, it always did, and her own expression turned into a bizarre mix of worry and pain. He glanced at her, and his fragile state only got weaker as his dead eyes clung to the scar on her collarbone - the loose henley Gillian wore revealed it like a flashing target. Another dagger penetrated his chest, another hit against his tainted lungs, and he felt like a shot deer waiting to bleed out. He was Atlas, crushed underneath the earth he was supposed to hold. And so he collapsed into Pleione's arms.

  
"I..I...," he mumbled, chocking on his own words. "I ... nearly lost you too that day. I would..have lost what I...hated the most... an...and...and.-. and you. I...couldn't... ."

  
"Robert, listen to me," her voice soft, and the lean thumbs stroke his heated cheeks. "Don't let him win this battle. It's over, and _you_ have won. He is dead, just like you said, and he has no power over you. And _I_ am here, by your side, he is not. I survived thanks to you. He will never do anything to you anymore. Let the ghosts be ghosts, they cannot reach you and their hands will be reaching into nothing." His sobbing became louder and his hands clung to her thin wrists. " _You_ are the one still standing, _you_ have surpassed him in any possible way."

  
She poked him on his chest, right there where his beating heart was close to break his rips. _"You_ are the king to a kingdom he could never achieve, blinded by his own arrogance and hubris. He was nothing but a beggar in fine clothes, a pretender, thinking he belongs to the nobles while all he did was rolling in mud. And don't let him besmirch your royal coat now. _You_ are my king."

  
Gillian softly kissed him on the lips. She could feel how his warm tears ran down her cheeks.


End file.
